Monday, April 7, 2014

DIY Cough Syrup with Essential Oils

On my continuing journey to make healthier versions of medicines and home products, I wanted to try making a natural cough syrup with essential oils. I saw the idea on Pinterest which led to Baby Steps to Essential Oils.

The recipe is very easy and can be pre-made and stored in a small container. A dab of this all-natural cough syrup is enough to last a person through the night or day.

The essential oils and honey needed to make cough syrup.

First, gather the ingredients to make the cough: 

1 drop frankincense oil
1 drop lemon oil
1 drop orange oil
1 drop peppermint oil
1 teaspoon honey

Next, put the honey in a container. Add the essential oils to the honey and mix with a spoon.

Adding essential oil to the honey.


When needed, put some of the honey mixture on a spoon and swallow.

For larger quantities, simple multiply each of the ingredients (e.g., 5 drops of each essential oil mixed with 5 teaspoons of honey).

The finished cough syrup. 
It still looks like honey, so it is best to label the container.

The smell of the cough syrup is wonderful! The blend of the essential oils is both invigorating and comforting at the same time. Each of the four essential oils helps with coughing.

The taste of this all-natural cough syrup, compared to plain honey, is a little bitter. The essential oils do alter the taste of the honey slightly. Yet, it's the smell of the cough syrup that makes it so pleasantly different from other commercially-prepared syrups.

In addition to the essential oils, honey has long been used as a cough suppressant and sore-throat reliever. According to the Mayo Clinic,"Honey appeared to be as effective as a common cough suppressant ingredient, dextromethorphan, in typical over-the-counter doses. Since honey is low-cost and widely available, it might be worth a try.

"However, due to the risk of infant botulism, a rare but serious form of food poisoning, never give honey to a child younger than age 1."

I'm happy to have some of this natural cough syrup in the medicine cabinet now; and am prepared for testing it out on the first person who gets a cough.

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